White House Slams Boehner's 'Disappointing' Lawsuit

Colin Campbell, provided by

Published 4:14 pm, Thursday, July 10, 2014

The White House on Thursday reacted to House Speaker John Boehner officially releasing details of his lawsuit against Barack Obama by reiterating the president's earlier claim the suit was nothing but a "stunt" that wastes taxpayer dollars.

"It is disappointing that Speaker Boehner and Congressional Republicans have decided to waste time and taxpayer dollars on a political stunt. At a time when Washington should be working to expand economic opportunities for the middle class, Republican leaders in Congress are playing Washington politics rather than working with the President on behalf of hardworking Americans," the White House press secretary said in a statement.

Boehner's lawsuit, which was outlined earlier in the day with a draft resolution set to be filed in the House of Representatives, focuses on Obama's 2013 decision to unilaterally delay the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act.

"In 2013, the president changed the health care law without a vote of Congress, effectively creating his own law by literally waiving the employer mandate and the penalties for failing to comply with it. That’s not the way our system of government was designed to work. No president should have the power to make laws on his or her own," Boehner said at the time.

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But the White House argued Boehner's lawsuit was a sign that Congress simply isn't doing its job.

"As the President said today, he is doing his job – lawsuit or not – and it’s time Republicans in Congress did theirs," the press secretary added.